Test of Friendship
by Crescent Dreamweaver
Summary: Sequel to "Mutant High."


TEST OF FRIENDSHIP  
  
by  
  
Crescent Dreamweaver  
  
email: catz4dog1@aol.com  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the 10th Kingdom, X-Men: Evolution, blah blah blah, etc., etc. I don't even own the rights to Crescent Greyson, because NBC and Hallmark Entertainment were the ones who decided to make Virginia preggers. The only characters I own any rights to are Darla Carlyle and Chloe Winters, because I invented them, but if I could get rid of them, I would, because they're total bitches. I dunno, maybe I'll kill them off in a future story or something. Who knows?  
  
Synopsis: Sequel to "Mutant High". A few days after she finds out that her friends are the X-Men, Crescent is trying to decide how she's going to tell them about her genetic inheritance from her father's side of the family, but she's afraid that they'll fear and reject her.  
  
* *=indicates emphasized words  
  
** **=indicates telepathic communication  
  
-- --=indicates a person's thoughts  
  
Let the story begin!  
  
* * *  
  
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."  
  
-unknown  
  
The lunch bell rang, and fifteen year old Crescent Greyson headed towards her locker. She opened it and pulled her lunchbag out. As she walked towards the cafeteria, she discreetly sniffed the air and nearly gagged when she caught a whiff of salmon and boiled cabbage. --Oh my god. That's foul. That's really foul. This is one of the times I hate being part wolf. God, there should be a law against cafeteria food that smells that bad when it's cooked. Good thing I brought my lunch.-- Holding her breath, she walked into the cafeteria, and spotted an empty table. But before she could sit down, she saw Kurt Wagner, also known as Nightcrawler, waving her over to the table he and his friends were sitting at. When she walked over there, he pulled a chair out for her to sit in.  
  
"Guten tag, Crescent," he said, grinning at her. "I see you had the foresight to bring your own lunch today."  
  
"Smart move, considering what's on the menu today," said Evan Daniels, also known as Spyke. He grimaced, and Crescent nodded in agreement.  
  
"Tell me about it," she said disgustedly. "Not only are salmon and boiled cabbage two of the most disgusting foods in the history of mankind, but they're also the worst smelling. The smell alone is enough to make a skunk keel over dead. Ugh." She pulled her bacon, turkey, and ham sandwich out of her lunch bag and removed the wrapper from around it. She took a bite, and was about to take another, when she noticed that her friends were staring at her. "What?"  
  
"Crescent, that's one of the strangest sandwiches I've ever seen," said Rogue. "What kind is it?"  
  
"Bacon, turkey, and ham." She laughed at the expressions on their faces. "Don't worry, it tastes better than it sounds."  
  
"That stuff will, like, totally clog your arteries, y'know," said Kitty Pryde, also known as Shadowcat. Crescent noticed that she had a salad in front of her. She shrugged.  
  
"Not these arteries," she replied, taking another bite of her sandwich.  
  
"That stuff will also make you fat," came Darla Carlyle's voice from behind her, and Crescent turned to face her. "If you eat that, you won't be able to run track in gym class. Wouldn't that be a shame?" Her voice had become sickeningly sweet, which told her that she didn't think it'd be a shame at all. That annoyed the hell out of Crescent. --Payback time, wolfie style--, she thought angrily. Suddenly, she noticed a small zit on Darla's chin, and instantly knew what buttons to push to get back at her.  
  
"Darla, I jog three miles every morning to wake up," she replied. "I don't think I'm gonna get fat anytime soon." Suddenly, she began staring at Darla's chin, as if she had just noticed the zit.  
  
"What're you staring at?" Darla demanded.  
  
"Well, there's something on your chin," she replied slowly. "I think it's a zit, but I'm not sure." She kept her face neutral, reveling in the look on Darla's face. The look of confusion and concern on her face was changing to a look of absolute terror.  
  
"A zit?" Darla repeated fearfully. She quickly pulled a compact mirror out of her purse and opened it. When she saw the zit, she instantly recoiled in horror. "Oh my god, it's huge!" she wailed, and took off for the bathroom, followed by her best friend, Chloe Winters. Kurt and Evan started laughing, and Rogue gave Crescent a high-five.  
  
"Way to go, girl," she said. "That snotty bitch's been askin' for somethin' like that for the longest time." She grinned at Crescent, and Crescent grinned back. Then she took another bite of her sandwich. Life couldn't get much better than this. A few moments later, the bell rang, and everyone headed back to class.  
  
* * *  
  
The bell rang, signalling the end of school, and Crescent closed her science book and science notebook, putting them both in her backpack. Then she stood up, pulled her jacket on, picked up her backpack, and slung it over both shoulders. She walked outside, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face. It was a brisk autumn day, and she was glad she'd worn a lightweight jacket, because there was a slight breeze. Crescent sighed. Normally, she'd be hopping and skipping because she loved this kind of weather, but she had too much on her mind right now. At the moment, she was trying to figure out how she was going to tell her friends what she was, and where her dad was from.  
  
"What the hell am I going to say to them? 'Hey, guys, guess what? I'm one-fourth wolf on my dad's side of the family, Snow White's my fairy godmother, her grandson's my adopted uncle, my other godmother is Cinderella, and I'm first cousin once removed to Queen Riding Hood the Third, ruler of the 2nd Kingdom, because her mother and my paternal grandmother were the daughters of the original Little Red Riding Hood, which makes me her great-granddaughter.' Yeah, right," she said disgustedly. "Like they're gonna believe me when I tell them that. Problem is, that's the only way I know of to tell them. " She sighed again, and looked up at the sky. "The hell with it. I'm just gonna flat-out tell them the truth. And the sooner, the better." She changed her course and headed towards the mansion.  
  
She arrived there a few minutes later, and opened the front gate. Then she walked towards the front door of the mansion. She saw Logan, also known as Wolverine, tinkering with his motorcycle in the middle of the driveway. She waved at him, and he nodded, barely acknowledging her. Crescent rolled her eyes. --Boys.-- She walked up the front steps and knocked on the door. A moment later, seventeen year old Jean Grey opened the door.  
  
"Hey, Crescent," she said cheerfully. "If you're here to see Kurt, he's up in his room." Crescent shook her head.  
  
"Actually, I need to talk to all of you," she replied. "That includes Logan, Ms. Monroe, and Professor Xavier. It's important."  
  
"All right," Jean said, confused, and sent a telepathic message to the rest of the X-Men. **Guys, there's an emergency meeting in the living room. Crescent has something she needs to tell us. She says it's important.** She walked towards the living room, and Crescent followed her. A few minutes later, the rest of the X-Men joined them.  
  
"Guten tag, Crescent," Kurt said cheerfully, teleporting next to her on the couch. He had switched off his image inducer, and now looked like a blue fuzzy elf, which was how he really looked. He was wearing his red and black uniform, which went well with his short blue fur and bright yellow eyes. Crescent sighed. --He'll probably hate me when I tell him the truth about who I am--, she thought unhappily. --They all will, I just know it.-- Kurt noticed the unhappy look on her face, and his smile faded. "Crescent, what is it that you have to tell us?" he asked gently. Crescent swallowed hard. --I guess it's time to face the music.--  
  
"I have something to tell all of you, but it's going to sound really bizarre," Crescent said. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you don't believe me. But I swear, every word I'm about to tell you is the truth." She took a deep breath. Then she blurted, "My dad's half-human, half-wolf, making me three-quarters human and one-fourth wolf, Snow White's my fairy godmother, her grandson's my adopted uncle, my other godmother is Cinderella, I'm first cousin once removed to Queen Riding Hood the Third, whose real name is Crimson, because her mother and my paternal grandmother were the daughters of the original Little Red Riding Hood, which makes me her great-granddaughter. Also, my maternal grandmother was trained in the dark arts by the evil stepmother who tried to kill Snow White." She swallowed nervously, and waited for their reaction.  
  
Professor Charles Xavier was the first to say anything. "Crescent, I commend you on a powerful imagination," he said.  
  
Then Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops, spoke up. "But Snow White, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood are characters in fairy tales. They don't exist. And how could you be one-fourth wolf? You and your dad would have to have the mutant gene, and then you'd have been detected by Cerebro."  
  
"But I don't have the mutant gene," Crescent replied softly. "And neither does my dad." She took a deep breath. "Fine, then. I'll prove that I'm one-fourth wolf." She pulled her tail out of the back of her pants, and began to concentrate on the wolf within her. She felt it begin to stir, and a moment later, she doubled over in agony as she felt the change begin to come over her. Her eyes flashed yellow for an instant, and she felt the bones in her face begin to stretch. An instant later, her canine teeth transformed into deadly fangs. Her nails became slightly sharper. Her head snapped up, and she stared at her friends, baring her fangs at them, her eyes glowing red. They stared at her in shock, and Crescent felt tears forming in her eyes. "I knew you'd react this way," she said unhappily, and ran towards the front door. She yanked it open, and ran outside, heading towards her house, ignoring her friends' calls for her to come back. Tears streamed down her face. She should  
have just kept her big mouth shut, and not told her friends. But because she hadn't, they weren't her friends anymore. They probably thought she was a dangerous freak. As she ran down the street, her eyes became normal again, her nails dulled slightly until they were back to normal, and her fangs became regular canine teeth again. She paused for a moment, and tucked her tail into the back of her pants. No sense freaking out anyone she might meet on the street.  
  
* * *  
  
A few minutes later, Crescent arrived at her house. She didn't bother letting her parents know she was home; instead, she ran inside without bothering to shut the door behind her. She ran through the living room and past the kitchen, where her parents were making dinner. Virginia stuck her head out of the kitchen. Princess, Crescent's golden retriever, was in the kitchen as well, and stuck her furry head out the doorway, looking concerned in a doggy way. She cocked her head to one side, and went back to eating the bowl of dog food that had meaty tomato sauce dumped on top. Life was pretty simple for a dog.  
  
"Crescent, is that you?" she called, but Crescent didn't answer. The only answer Virginia got was the sound of her daughter's bedroom door slamming shut. She looked over at Wolf, who was standing at the stove, stirring the spagetti sauce. He looked just as confused as she felt. Virginia went upstairs to Crescent's bedroom, and knocked on the door. "Crescent, is everything all right?" she asked. The door opened, and Crescent stuck her head out. There were tear streaks on her face, and more tears in her eyes. That worried Virginia the most. The way Crescent looked was every mother's worst nightmare. Her daughter had always been a beautiful little girl, and by the time she reached adolescence, she looked absolutely gorgeous. Virginia and Wolf knew they couldn't keep her locked out of sight of all teenage boys like some sacrifice for a dragon, but they still worried that a stranger might assault her on the streets. --Oh, dear God above, has Crescent been raped?-- she thought  
fearfully.  
  
"Do people like getting blasted full-force in the face with pepper spray?" Crescent asked. Virginia blinked. --What the hell does *that* have to do with anything?--  
  
"No."  
  
"Then everything's not all right!" Crescent slammed the door shut, and Virginia sighed.  
  
"Crescent, what's wrong?" she asked. No answer. She knocked on the door again. "Crescent?"  
  
"GO AWAY!" Crescent yelled angrily. A moment later, Virginia heard her crying, and she silently opened the door. Crescent was lying on her bed with her face buried in a pillow, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs.  
  
"Crescent, please tell me what's wrong," Virginia pleaded.  
  
"Don't wanna," Crescent replied, her voice muffled by the pillow. Virginia let out a sigh that was very well known to the long-suffering parents of teenagers.  
  
"Crescent-" Virginia hesitated slightly. "Were you raped?"  
  
"No." Her mother let out a sigh of relief. But her relief was short-lived. "It's worse."  
  
Virginia finally found her voice. "Worse?" she choked out.  
  
"I made a major mistake this afternoon." Virginia looked down at her daughter.  
  
"What kind of mistake?" she asked worriedly, afraid that what Crescent had done was could possibly kill her. Crescent sat up and took a deep breath.  
  
"I told my friends that me and Dad are part wolf, and I also told them about Snow White being my fairy godmother, and about Uncle Wendell, and about Cinderella being my other godmother, and about my cousin Crimson, and about Grandma Christine." Crescent looked down at the ground. "They didn't believe me." Virginia put an arm around Crescent's shoulders and hugged her.  
  
"Don't worry," she said. "They probably thought you were just telling a story. You *are* good at that." Crescent shook her head.  
  
"But then I proved that I was part wolf," Crescent said in a small voice. "I went into full wolfie mode, complete with glowing red eyes, fangs, and sharpened nails. And I pulled my tail out. They believed me then." She saw the look of concern in her mother's eyes. "Don't worry, Mom, I didn't hurt them. It wasn't the full moon, so I had nearly complete control over the wolf side of me." Virginia sighed in relief.  
  
"Well, that's always good to know," she said. Crescent nodded unhappily in agreement.  
  
"Yeah, but they probably think I'm a freak now," she replied. She looked like she was about to burst into tears again. Virginia gave her one final hug, and then stood up.  
  
"I need to get back downstairs," she said. "Dinner'll be ready in about fifteen minutes." Crescent nodded.  
  
"Call me when it's ready," Crescent said. Virginia smiled at her daughter, and headed downstairs. Crescent flopped down on the bed, and sighed. Suddenly, there was a tapping on her bedroom window. Puzzled, she got up and walked over to the window. Then she opened it. An instant later, Todd Tolansky, a freshman at Bayville High, jumped inside.  
  
"S'up, Crescent?" he said cheerfully. Crescent just stared at him in confusion. --Okay, what the hell is Todd Tolansky doing here?-- she thought. --I don't know him all that well. And what the hell is he wearing?-- Todd was wearing a green and white outfit that looked more like a costume than ordinary clothes. Crescent arched a single eyebrow.  
  
"Todd, there are two things I wanna know," she said. "One, what the hell are you doing here? Two, what the hell are you wearing?" Todd grinned at her, and looked proud of himself.  
  
"Like it?" he asked, spreading his arms. "It's my uniform." Crescent looked skeptical.  
  
"It makes you look like a frog," she replied. "And an idiot," she added under her breath. Todd's grin faded, and he glowered at her.  
  
"I'm not Frog," he said. "I'm Toad. I'm a member of the Brotherhood."  
  
"The Brotherhood?" Crescent asked nervously, backing away. "What is that, some kind of weird religious cult?" Toad rolled his eyes.  
  
"You wish," he replied. "It's the Brotherhood of Mutants. And I ain't the only member. There's also Avalanche, the Blob, Quicksilver, and Mystique. And we're hopin' you'll become the newest member." Crescent kept backing away from him, heading for her bedroom door.  
  
"Does the phrase "No chance in hell" mean anything to you?" she replied, trying to buy escape time. Suddenly, a silvery blur zoomed into her room through her window, and an instant later, there was a teenage boy standing behind her. He had white hair, blue eyes, and he wore a silver and blue uniform. Crescent instantly recognized him as Pietro Maximoff, a sophomore at Bayville High. She gaped at him, stunned, but immediately snapped out of it. "How the hell did you move so fast?" she demanded. He smirked at her.  
  
"That's why they call me Quicksilver," he said. Then the smirk left his face. "And now, if you'll come with us, we'll take you to your new home with the Brotherhood." Crescent was confused. --Why do they want me to join the Brotherhood of Mutants?-- she thought. --Don't they know I'm not a mutant?--  
  
"Um, there's just one problem with that," Crescent said nervously. "I'm not a mutant." Quicksilver looked over at Toad and shook his head slightly, making tsk-ing sounds.  
  
"She's in denial," he told Toad sadly. "They usually are at first." --What a jackass-- Crescent thought angrily, mentally giving Quicksilver a stiff middle finger. He looked back over at her. "You can deny it all you want, but it's the truth." He reached for her. "Now, I'd appreciate it if you'd just come along willingly, before I get really pissed off." Crescent gulped, knowing that she had to think fast and figure out a way to escape. Suddenly, she had an idea.  
  
"Hey, Principal Darkholme's outside," she said. "She's got a really pissed look on her face." It was the lamest decoy she'd ever come up with, but Quicksilver and Toad both looked at each other in horror, and then they ran to the window, looking outside.  
  
"Hey, I don't see Mystique anywhere," said Toad. --What the hell are they talking about?-- Crescent thought, confused. --I said Principal Darkholme, not some person named Mystique! Unless they're one and the same. That might explain it. Maybe. I don't know!-- She scratched her temple in confusion. Then she moved silently towards the doorway.  
  
"Me, neither," Quicksilver said angrily. He spun back around to face Crescent, but she wasn't there. She'd taken the opportunity to run out her bedroom door. Quicksilver narrowed his eyes. Then he zoomed after her, becoming little more than a silvery blur.  
  
Crescent ran down the hallway, heading for the staircase. Suddenly, she smelled her mother nearby. She looked downstairs and saw that her mother was lying in a heap on the living room floor. Her father lay nearby.  
  
"Mama! Daddy!" Crescent screamed shrilly. A moment later, she smelled Quicksilver coming up behind her, but before she could do anything, he clapped a hand over her mouth. Then he dragged her back to her bedroom, where Toad was waiting with a rope. They quickly tied her up and then Quicksilver dragged her over to the window, and climbed out. He handed Crescent down to a dark-haired boy who was standing there, wearing a black, brown, and white uniform with a helmet over the upper part of his face. She saw that it was Lance Alvers, a sophomore at Bayville High. --I assume he's Avalanche-- she thought to herself, --seeing as he ain't fat.-- She struggled to get away. "Let me go, you asshole!" she screeched, but he handed her over to an extremely overweight teenage boy standing there. --Well, that must be the Blob-- she thought unhappily. --And I guess I'm an official prisoner now. Goddamnit!-- Crescent sighed unhappily. Then she glowered at her captors.  
  
"There's just one thing I want to know," she demanded. Quicksilver immediately smiled at her.  
  
"We'll be happy to answer any questions you have," he said.  
  
"All right, fine," replied Crescent. "What the hell did you do to my parents? They were both lying on the floor of the living room, and they were both unconscious. So what did you do to them?" Her eyes had turned as hard and cold as flint, and she could feel the wolf inside her begging to be released so she could rip their throats out.  
  
"Don't worry," Toad said. "They just got hit with tranquilizer darts. They'll be fine in just a few minutes. Although it'll probably take your pop a while to wake up, 'cause it took three darts to take him down. It only took your mom one, though, and she dropped like a sack of grain." Crescent's eyes had begun to flash warningly, and Quicksilver quickly took notice of this.  
  
"There's nothing to be worried about; the darts were filled with a harmless sleep tranquilizer," he said quickly, keeping Toad from possibly getting his throat ripped out. "Speaking of which..." He pulled a small dartgun from a bag, and an instant later, Crescent realized what he was going to do. Letting out a howl of pure anger, she snapped the ropes holding her prisoner, and fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Then she looked up at the Brotherhood, all of whom had backed away in fear, even the Blob. Crescent's eyes began to glow yellow.  
  
"You bastards are *so* dead!" Crescent snarled. Then she leapt at them, ready to rip their throats out, but before she could reach them, she felt the thud of a dart in her back, and she slumped to the ground, unconscious. Quicksilver sighed in relief. --They always wanna do it the hard way-- he thought. He moved towards her, but an instant later, there was a BAMF in front of him, along with the unmistakable smell of rotten eggs, and Nightcrawler appeared. He grabbed Crescent, and then they disappeared with a BAMF before any of the Brotherhood could do anything. Quicksilver, Avalanche, Toad, and the Blob all stared at where she had been a second earlier. No one could say anything. A moment later, Toad summed up their situation with just a few words.  
  
"Aw, man," he said. "Mystique's gonna be majorly pissed about this."  
  
* * *  
  
A few minutes later, Kurt arrived at the X-Men mansion, carrying Crescent. He 'ported both of them to the medical center, and placed her on a table. He grabbed a washcloth and 'ported over to the sink, where he quickly turned on the tap and stuck the washcloth under the stream of water. A few seconds later, Kurt turned the water off and 'ported back over to where Crescent was lying on the table. He placed the washcloth on her forehead. A couple of minutes later, the rest of the X-Men showed up.  
  
"Is she, like, gonna be all right?" Kitty asked worriedly. Rogue was the first to reply.  
  
"Of course she's gonna be all right!" she said sharply. "She's one-fourth wolf, and a wolf's first instinct is survival. Next to hunting down and killing sheep, that is."  
  
"That is such a crock of shit," Crescent mumbled, startling everyone. She sat up, and smiled tiredly at everyone.  
  
"Crescent, you're all right!" Kitty exclaimed happily. She flung her arms around Crescent, hugging her fiercely, taking her completely by surprise. "We were so worried about you. Why'd you run off?"  
  
Crescent stared at her in shock, and finally spoke. "Because I thought you guys were angry at me for not telling you the truth before," she replied. She looked down at the ground. "I thought you didn't want to be my friends anymore," she said in a small voice.  
  
"Why would you think that, fraulein?" Kurt said, surprised. "No matter what, you're still our friend, and nothing's going to change that anytime soon." Crescent felt tears forming in her eyes, but this time, they were tears of happiness. --They're my friends-- she thought. --And nothing will ever change that.-- She grinned at everyone. --Now I truly belong-- Crescent thought happily.  
  
* * *  
  
A couple of days later, the bell rang at the end of the school day, and Crescent walked towards Pietro's locker with the intention of telling him to pass the message on to the others that she wasn't a mutant, and never had been, and saw that all the members of the Brotherhood were standing around it, talking. --Aw, crap-- she thought dismally. --I do *not* want to face them all at once. Still, now's as good a time as any.-- She cleared her throat, and they all looked over at her. --Judging by their glares, I'd say they're pretty pissed at me because of the other night.-- She smiled at them, but they didn't return her smile.  
  
"Um, hi, guys," she said nervously.  
  
"What do you want?" demanded Pietro. Crescent took a deep breath.  
  
"To tell you guys that you made a mistake," she replied. Lance cocked an eyebrow at her.  
  
"And just what would that mistake be?" he asked.  
  
"Despite what you guys believe, and what you saw the other night, I'm not a mutant," Crescent said. "I'm just part wolf." She grinned wryly. "But it was an honest mistake. I'm pretty pissed about you using tranquilizers on my parents, though, but I'm not gonna hold a grudge, because it would be pretty pointless. I'd rather have you guys as my friends, not my enemies." All the members of the Brotherhood looked startled.  
  
"Wait a sec," said Todd, looking confused. "I thought you were friends with the X-Men."  
  
"I am," Crescent replied. "I'll try to stay as neutral as I can, but only to a certain point. When it comes to battles-" She smiled grimly "-I fight alongside the X-Men, 'cause they're like a second family to me." She held out her hand. "Deal?" Pietro stared at her for a second, and then turned to consult with the other members of the Brotherhood. They huddled together, and Crescent could hear them whispering to each other. A moment later, Pietro turned back around to face her, and she was startled to see that for once he was smiling instead of smirking. He clasped her hand, and shook it.  
  
"Deal," he said. Crescent smiled at the members of the Brotherhood, and then turned to leave.  
  
"I gotta get going, you guys," she said. She made a face. "Major homework." They nodded understandingly.  
  
"See ya tomorrow, Crescent," Pietro called, already walking away. The rest of the Brotherhood headed off as well.  
  
Crescent walked outside, when suddenly, Todd hopped in front of her. "Yo, Crescent, since you're friends with the Brotherhood now," he said, leering at her, "maybe you and I could go on a date sometime." Crescent stared at him for several seconds, not saying anything. Finally, she spoke.  
  
"Not a snowball's chance in hell, Todd."  
  
The End  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: Please R&R, but no flames, otherwise I'll have to kick your sorry arses from here to Middle Earth. See ya! 


End file.
